How To Make Melodic House like Bedouin

This tutorial shows how to produce a melodic house track in the style of Bedouin - the duo known for blending melodic house with organic grooves and influences from their Middle Eastern heritage. Working at 123 BPM in FL Studio, the video covers the full production process: layered percussion, chord progressions with a mysterious Middle Eastern feel, analog synth sounds, a plucky saw bass, stereo strings, and arrangement techniques. Most sounds come from the Tantra Afro and melodic house producer pack.

What Makes Bedouin's Melodic House Sound Unique?

Bedouin's sound stands out for its combination of melodic house grooves with organic textures and Middle Eastern musical influences. Their tracks sit between 120 and 126 BPM - slower and more atmospheric in earlier releases, but the newer work leans more towards a housey, club-oriented energy that works better on large dance floors. The defining characteristics are deep, punchy kicks, dense percussion layers that create an organic groove, chord progressions with a mysterious or slightly dissonant quality, and string or pad sounds that add an ethnic, textural depth. Using a mix of programmed elements and organic-sounding loops is central to achieving the Bedouin aesthetic, and careful attention to dynamics - layering subtle ambience loops underneath the main percussion - gives the tracks their characteristic depth and atmosphere.

How to Build the Drum and Percussion Foundation for Melodic House

Start by setting the BPM to 123, which sits right in the middle of Bedouin's typical range. Use a deep, punchy kick as the foundation - something with weight rather than brightness. Add a clap on every second and fourth beat, shifted slightly to the left to create a pre-shift feel that gives the groove a human, off-center quality. Place an open hi-hat on every offbeat for a basic house groove. To add complexity and organic movement, layer multiple percussion loops: conga loops, top loops with various percussive elements, shakers, a noisy open hi-hat loop, an acoustic hi-hat loop for a human touch, and an offbeat clave loop. The trick to making the track feel alive is layering organic texture loops underneath everything - rainforest ambience sounds or texture loops kept very low in the mix to add depth without drawing attention to themselves. A simple 909 hi-hat on every offbeat in the second part of the drop adds energy without overcomplicating the groove.

1. Set BPM to 123
2. Place a deep kick on every beat as the foundation
3. Add a pre-shifted clap on beats 2 and 4
4. Place an open hi-hat on every offbeat
5. Layer conga loops, top loops, shaker loops, and an acoustic hi-hat loop
6. Add a clave loop on the offbeat for extra groove
7. Layer ambient texture loops very low in the mix for depth
8. Add a 909 hi-hat on every offbeat in the second drop section

How to Create the Middle Eastern Chord Progression for Melodic House

The chord progression used in this tutorial is designed to evoke a mysterious, Middle Eastern feeling - using a second chord that almost sounds intentionally off or dissonant, which is exactly what creates the tension and intrigue in Bedouin's harmonic palette. For the synth, Arturia Analog Lab is used with a Rhodes-style electric piano preset - an old-school sound that can be heard in several well-known Bedouin tracks. This is a simple choice but it works precisely because of its warmth and vintage character. Processing is light: roll off the low end with an EQ so the bass handles that frequency range, and add a small amount of reverb to widen the sound. A second piano layer from a Serum 2 preset creates a rhythmic step version of the same chord progression - shorter, more percussive notes rather than sustained chords - widened with a Fruity Chorus and slightly compressed with a Fruity Peak Controller for added attack.

How to Layer Organic Synth Sounds in the Bedouin Style

Beyond chords, the Bedouin sound relies on several supporting layers to build the full atmosphere. A big tom hit is added to match the rhythmic hits of the piano step chords - this tom has a lot of character and power, so roll off just a little at around 80 Hz without cutting too much, add a decapitator for slight distortion, and a reverb to make it sound bigger in the room. A sequence preset from the Tantra pack plays on the root note throughout the track, providing a constant rhythmic melodic pulse underneath everything else. For stereo strings, an Arturia Meatron violin preset is used - the Mellotron-sampled violin sound adds mystery and an organic, slightly eerie texture that is common in many Bedouin tracks. This string part plays the melody and can be doubled an octave higher with the higher notes at a lower velocity for balance. A kickstart sidechain on the strings at a low wet level adds gentle movement.

• Tom hit: roll off around 80 Hz, add decapitator distortion and reverb
• Sequence preset: hold root note (G) for constant melodic pulse
• Arturia Meatron violin: play melody with possible octave doubling
• Kickstart sidechain on strings at low wet level for movement

How to Program the Plucky Saw Bass for Melodic House

The bass uses a Serum 2 preset called "Bass Circles" - a plucky saw bass with a strong transient that gives it its characteristic attack. The bass notes follow the root notes of the chord progression, programmed directly from the chord MIDI. Once the note pattern is established, create an interesting rhythm rather than holding every note at full length - shorter notes with rhythmic variation make the bassline groove rather than simply playing root notes. Drop the bass down an octave if necessary to find the right register. Side chaining is handled through Kickstart 2, which has a band filter function that makes the sidechain duck only below a certain frequency - this preserves the plucky top end of the bass while still ducking the sub frequencies with the kick, which is cleaner than broadband sidechain compression and maintains more of the bass character in the mix.

How to Structure the Drop and Buildup in Melodic House

The final melodic element is a pluck preset used in the second part of the drop only - an arpeggio or melodic phrase that brings additional life to the arrangement without being present from the beginning. Starting on the root note G and working outward to develop the melody is a practical approach when using a plucky or percussive sound. The buildup is kept deliberately simple: a few melodic elements, shaker loops building in energy, and a white noise sweep. A vocal sample found on Splice with a mysterious, atmospheric quality ties the buildup and drop together and reinforces the Bedouin feel. The key arrangement principle throughout is holding back elements and introducing them gradually - the buildup hints at the melodic content without giving it all away, so the drop lands with maximum impact when everything comes together.

Most of the sounds used in this tutorial come from the Tantra producer pack - an Afro and melodic house sample pack containing organic percussion, Serum 2 presets, project files, royalty-free vocals, and a full production course. It includes every element shown in this video, ready to use across FL Studio, Ableton Live, and Logic Pro.

Tutorial by Niek, co-founder of The Producer School. For more production tutorials, subscribe to The Producer School on YouTube (280K+ subscribers).